Theoretical Basis

Why practise with small balls in your hands?

The motivation to regularly practice with small balls in your hands (FingerQiGong) originates mainly from the desire to improve your own fingerskills. Mostly instrumentalists, like guitar-players, have this desire. But also sportsmen who need their hands to grasp, hold and/or throw something discover more and more the unique improvement of their skills by practising FingerQiGong. Overtension of the hands and fingers are noticed sooner through FingerQiGong, so that one of the most important sources of error can be avoided.

The main headword for understanding FingerQiGong is

fingercultivation.

In Webster´s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary the word cultivate is defined, among other things, as: 2c:to improve by labor, care, or study: REFINE and 3: FURTHER, ENCOURAGE.That is basically what FingerQiGong is all about.

Experience shows, by the way, that as soon as the required ballmovements in FingerQiGong are culti-vated regularly and seriously, not only an improvement or change of the coordination and litheness of the fingers is noticed, but a general improvement of the physical well-being happens, or maybe better, appears. If you further-more suddenly start to notice, that your personal advancement is enhancing,then you must be on the right path.

The ball as a sphere

The most complete geometrical body in our whole universe is certainly the ball. The ball represents perfection as well as harmony and naturally promotes a centring, and with it internal tranquillity. The ball form, therefore, automatically takes in a natural and prominent role in the architectural plan of our whole surroundings. The beginning of life stands, for example, in narrow connection with the ball. The female ovum has ball form. The cell that develops from the union of the ovum and sperm has a ball form and divides after about 15 hours again in more spherical cells. The ball, as a symbol of perfection, has in many cultures always been seen as a symbol of life itself. What lies closer than to cultivate the body with the perfekt form of the ball?

The phenomenon of the ball as the most perfect body is that it carries itself. The static forces of the ball form are tuned so harmoniously, that the ball can stand firm to very high pressure charges. A planet or even a drop of water necessarily goes into the ball form, in which the tension of the surface is reduced to a minimum. On the surface of a ball you are at every location in the precisely same distance to the ball centre. You never get further away from, however you also never get closer to the core.

Mans passion for playing very early recognised and used the ball form as an optimum match ball. Baseball, soccer, golf, tennis and many other sports use spherical balls. Balls were also unfortunately suited in the past, on account of the optimal qualities, for less peaceful purposes, such as weapons. Not only as a cannon ball, but also as a small hand ball, which was used as a blow and throw weapon, as historical references prove.

The effects of FingerQiGong

I. MedicineThe traditional Chinese medicine is, among other things, based on the theory of the meridians (jingluo theory), which are to be considered as a network of energy channels that flow through the body.Some of these meridians of the hands, there are concidered to be a total of about 14, are connected with all important organs of the human body like the head, breast, belly, and pelvic organs.

The numerous reflex fields and acupuncture points of the meridians of the inner and outer surface of the hand and fingers are activated by the ball movements and become stimulated, from which more than 100 are concidered to exist. Therefore the movements of the balls in the hand and fingers are in accordance with a so called reflex zone massage.

Possible blockades in the area of the meridians can be dissolved by regularly practising FingerQiGong, through which the life energy, called Qi, can undesturbably flow again. Thereby a curative effect is also acheived against chronic illnesses.It is also astonishing, for example, how direct disturbances of the hands and fingers are improved by regularly practicing FingerQiGong.

II. PreventionMore or less healthy people can influence their life absolutely positively through regularly practicing FngerQiGong. This practise also, for example, stimu-lates the central nervous system by rising the blood circulation. That not only improves the ability to concentrate but also the memory is noticeably improved. Through regular practice the muscles of the forearm are set in a natural harmonious motion.This again gently stimulates, by the increased muscle work, the blood circulation altogether and with tha auto-matically the respiratory system.Muscles, vessels, joints as well as nerves of the fingers, hands, arms and the shouldernape area are activated and harmo-nised.Hence, for the Chinese, practicing FingerQiGong is one of the most effective forms of health preservation.

For many top chinese sportsmen the small balls are an important training device, which they use almost every day.The balls promote not only the fine motor activity of the fingers and strengthen the forearm muscles in a natural and harmonious manner, they also loosen cramps, through relaxation of the used fingers, hands, arms and shoulders.

Because of the simultaneous advancement of the muscles, bones and vessels of the whole upper part of the body, including the brain and nervous system, the practitioner becomes mentally more strengthened and well-balanced.For many occupations, hobbies and sportarts which require hand skills, this possibility of natural relaxation is a welcome remedy.The more advanced the practicioner is, the less he cramps.This is due to the fact that the ability to notice the uncon-sciously built up personal tensions is raised through regular practicing.

FingerQiGong generates a unique energy exchange between the balls and the hands and fingers.This concerns the perception of pressure or touch, position holding and movement as well as temperature or heat exchange.With sounding balls the vibration and the sounds are added.

On this occasion, it must be emphasised that the perception of these influences only come about when the practioner has achieved control of all fingers, which, most impotantly, includes at the same time the control of the ring and small finger of the weak hand (mostly the left hand).So that a positive energy exchange, which allows an advancement, originates from the stage of the harmonious rhythmical movement.From this state on health occurs automatically.

Actually FingerQiGong developes the use of the joints.

III. PsychologicalAn eager practitioner once said:„You may think I´m crazy, but the further I succeed with FingerQigong, the further I come in my personal maturation process.“This statement is based on the fact that there are not only the reflex zones, which are connected with organs, but also psychic allocations of every finger and even their limbs.

The use of our hands, by the development of skills, has enabled us human beeings to escape from the bare animal existence.This has also developed our reasoning power and with it our cerebral activity andof course vice versa.

Practicing in the art of FingerQiGong gives us the possibility to absolutely harmonise the body.This is again close-knit with the spiritual advancement of the individual.

A coarse division of the allocation of the single hand areas, which are activated by FingerQiGong is:

Palm = action & impulsiveness

Thumb = vitality

Forefinger = ego

Middle finger = objectivity

Ring finger = relationship & creativity

Small finger = intelligence and spirituality

The single finger limbs are supposed to have the following climbing influence. The influence is in each case climbing up from the basic limb after middle joint to the final limb:

That means, that with every progress = each limb-jump that the practitioner controls, he becomes necessarily riper. It should not be disregarded that this sort of progress only comes when both hands are controlled.

It is absolutely up to the individual practitioner to notice how his own progress, which he achieves with the fingers by continuous practicing, effects his own personal advancement and becomes apparent.

The path is the goal, so the goal consists in never getting off the path.